Printing Industries of America (PIA) has announced that Calvin Frost has been selected as the 2015 William D. Schaeffer Environmental Award recipient. Frost is highly regarded as one of the most distinguished proponents for the use of environmentally conscious practices in the global label and tag industry. He is also the author of the popular “Letters From the Earth” column in Label & Narrow Web, where he focuses on environmental challenges and solutions facing the label printing industry and the world at large.

Frost’s path to receiving this award began in 1979 when he created the paper-recycling firm, Channeled Resources. Over the past three decades, Channeled Resources has transformed into a global firm offering repurposing solutions for both manufacturers and consumers of coated, treated, and laminated papers and films – formerly deemed “unrecyclable.” Throughout his career, Frost has been a vocal advocate for the implementation and retention of good environmental practices within the industry. Through his work, he was unanimously recognized as Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute’s Supplier of the Year in 2010 and the Global Label Awards’ Lifetime Achievement in 2006. Frost has also chaired numerous committees and taskforces within the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute overseeing the development of numerous education and sustainability programs.

During the judging, one panel member remarked, “It’s tough for most people to go beyond the scope of the industry, but others do a tremendous job. Calvin has gone way beyond that – way beyond. He has made a national and international impact.”

“I have had the pleasure of working with Calvin for many years, and he is a true visionary and tireless in his effort at providing solutions to the printing industry. He seeks out and finds innovative approaches to solving common environmental problems faced by printing operations,” says Gary Jones, Assistant Vice President Environmental, Health, and Safety Affairs, Printing Industries of America.  

Frost will be formally presented with an engraved plaque at Printing Industries of America’s Spring Administrative Meetings in Chandler, AZ on June 11.